Hi there! I’m an incoming freshman and was wondering if anyone here has advice for fundamentals of cs 2500 hon with Benjamin Lerner: tips/ general advice. Also are there any CS and Bio interdisciplinary majors out there ? Ty!
I just graduated, but I was a tutor and TA for that class for 5 semesters, so I know it pretty well. Ben is also a nice guy - kind of on the quiet side, but very willing to help out and he’s taught the honors section of the class before. The entires Fundies 1 class (which has at least 400 students between all the sections) is typically taught by 4-5 different professors, a dozen TAs, and 30 tutors (and we have weekly staff meetings to talk about all of you and the class). It’s a tough class, but very rewarding. Here are a few tips from my experience and the problems I’ve seen:
The honors section is harder than the non-honors section (which is different from honors sections of a lot of other classes). Just be prepared for that.
Do the homework. I cannot stress this enough. Almost all of the homework will be done with a partner, but don’t let your partner just do all the work. If you do, the first midterm will eat you alive. I have seen it far too many times.
All the tests are open note and open book, but don’t let this lull you into complacency. If you don’t know the concepts, you won’t be able to piece it together in that span of time. Use your notes for reference to double-check yourself.
Go to lab, even if they aren’t taking attendance or doing quizzes. It’s your best chance to work through problems with someone (TAs and tutors) there to answer your questions immediately. Also good for developing a relationship with your TA if you end up having problems with your partner and want to switch.
Go to office hours! As I pointed out, there are at least 40 people on staff just for this class. They’re serious about helping students out. For simpler questions, start with the TAs. The more complex the question, the better off you’ll be going to a TA instead; they have more experience with the course and material (whereas tutors usually took the class the semester before) and can probably help explain concepts better.
Pro tip: go to office hours on weekends or shortly after the previous assignment was due. You’ll get the TA/tutor to yourself. If you go the day the homework is due, I can 100% guarantee they’ll be swamped.
Don’t procrastinate on the homework. Seriously. You don’t want to write Tetris the night before it’s due. Even if you’re an experienced programmer, you probably haven’t done functional programming, and it can be challenging to get your head wrapped around at first.
Pay attention to the design guidelines and follow them! Even if you think they’re stupid, the rubrics are very strict about points for code structure and comments, and you don’t want to lose easy points. And for more complex problems, the “design recipe” is actually useful. Also write lots of tests.
Hope that’s helpful information, and I’d be glad to answer any more questions you have on the course! I was a behavioral neuroscience major with a CS minor; if I had discovered programming before college, I probably would have done a combined major like that.
Thank you so much! If I may ask, what are you doing now that you have graduated? Were you pre med( like me) or are you going to grad school? Thanks so much btw!
Also @nanotechnology how is the honors section tougher? Is it in terms of pace or depth or exams etc?
I started out as pre-med, but I ended up more interested in research. I got a Marshall Scholarship, so this fall I’ll be headed to Imperial College London in the fall for bioengineering. I’m super excited about it.
For the honor section, it just generally moves at a faster pace and with a bit more depth. You’ll cover more material than the non-honors section. For exams, honors has the same exam as non-honors plus an honors supplement. The questions on this part can be challenging, but professors know this and will scale grades accordingly if something ends up harder than they anticipated. Taking the honors section is definitely a challenging experience, but it’s also very rewarding.
Thank you! Finally @nanotechnology I have one last question: what are some cool things/ opportunities that come out of the honors program? What can I expect for first year? Thank you!